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San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Kneels During National Anthem Due To His Protest Against Social Injustice and Racial Equality

The Denver Post

Social Injustice is unfair treatment where the rights of a person or a group of people are ignored. Racial Equality is the belief that individuals should be legally equal and treated that way in all aspects morally and politically. Athletes in all sports have begun to take a stand against these topics to help bring this awareness forward to discussion so that we as a nation can resolve this problem together.

Athletes Rise Up To Take A Stand Knowing They May Be Scrutinized

Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers has been kneeling during the national anthem before every game this season because he is protesting against social injustice and racial equality in our nation today. He says that he will continue to kneel during the national anthems until he begins to notice some sort of change in our nation. Kaepernick says how people have know that this has been an issue for quite some time but they have not known how to come upon it and discuss it, he believes that by doing this, it has brought more awareness forward to the public and it has now become a discussion and people are doing things to eliminate this issue.

The Huffington Post

Kaepernick was not the first athlete to take this stand to bring forward awareness. Actually, this issue of social injustice and racial equality is not a new issue that has come upon us recently. This topic can date all the way back to 1968 when John Carlos and Tommie Smith stepped upon the podium at the Olympics in Mexico City and raised their fists in the air as the national anthem played throughout the stadium. According to Carlos, "We just felt like it was time that someone made a public statement about what was happening, not just here in the United States for blacks, but people from all ethnic groups around the globe that were going through many [different] oppressions. Every ethnic group we were talking about was right there under the Olympic ring."

Study Shows That Six in Ten Americans Say More Changes Are Needed

A study was conducted in order to show what percentage of Americans thought that more changes needed to take place versus the percentage of people who think that our country has already made enough changes. In this study, there was quite a gap separated by race on who thought we needed more change and who thought we have already had enough. It showed that 88% of blacks and seven in ten hispanics say that there needs to be change in order for minorities to have the same equal rights as white people compared to the 53% of whites who said that as well. Whereas 38% of whites say that there is already enough change going on.

Many blacks highly doubt that any changes will happen in our country to give them the same rights as white people whereas only 11% of white people and 17% of hispanics agree with that statement. In this study, they also asked the question of how people view how blacks are treated in the U.S.

The results from this study shows a wide margin of how people feel about how blacks are treated in the U.S. versus how white people are, the percentage of blacks versus the percentage of white people who support the Black Lives Matter protests and many other topics as well.

PewResearchCenter

PewResearchCenter

The Outcome Of Athletes Taking Their Stand

Kaepernick says that he doesn't to take a knee forever and he knows that things will change and he knows that it is just going to take some time. Brandon Marshall for the Denver Broncos sat down with the Denver Chief of Police Robert White, and it says at the very beginning of the article that Marshall "came equipped with a loosely formed plan and a laundry list of questions." The two sat in the Denver Police Department for about an hour where Marshall asked him about the recent shootings so that he could understand the protocol of an officer and what actions he must take in certain scenarios. Chief White answered all of his questions while also giving him some tips on how he can help out with the police department to "effect change and fight racial injustice in local communities and beyond." Chief White states, "This was an opportunity to use a football analogy, 'move the ball forward'. We can never address the issues that we're faced with in this country if, No. 1 we don't have respect for the other side of the table and, No. 2 we can't find some common ground to move forward."